These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. (Lk 10:38-42)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100725.cfm
The Martha and Mary story is interesting, but this is not just any ole village. Martha and Mary live in Bethany. And why has their brother, Lazarus, been erased completely? Perhaps the others were jealous of the very close friendship that they had with the Lord. We know that the Lord wept for his friend Lazarus who had died and then raised him from the dead. In his love for us, his beloved disciples, the Lord will call us by name to be by his side for ever. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. https://youtu.be/SRFFdyygSAE?si=OGm5FQP4jFoZBShp
“Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." (Lk 10:25-37)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100625.cfm
The commandment to love God and love neighbor trips us up every time. The parable of the Good Samaritan starts out apparently as an anti-clerical joke (the priest and the levite pass by on the other side). But Jesus quickly turns the tables on us when the hero is not a simple layman, but rather the enemy of the man dying in the ditch. Jesus says, "Go and do likewise." Unfortunately, we would rather destroy our enemies rather than save them. https://youtu.be/YYjurJyJN7g?si=9b7exJzi0ncEC7Xl
Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live. (Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100525.cfm
We live in a broken world, a broken society where hatred and violence towards immigrants and the poor no longer shock us. Many are simply trying to hold on to faith, but God calls us to so much more. God calls us to live our faith publicly “so that one can read it readily.” In the face of the politics of fear and intimidation, the church cannot be silent. https://youtu.be/FzLG-xEy4A0?si=XKuw9oQGh2Fn0Y2G
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 69)
R. The Lord listens to the poor.
See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revive! For the LORD hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
R. The Lord listens to the poor.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100425.cfm
In the conclave when Cardinal Bergoglio was elected, his friend, the cardinal from Honduras who was sitting next to him said, “Don’t forget the poor!” As a consequence, when they asked him by what name he wanted to be called, he chose the name Francis. Later he shocked the cardinals by saying he wanted a church of the poor. Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) reminds the church that Christ is always found in the face of the poor.
Justice is with the Lord, our God; and we today are flushed with shame, we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem, that we, with our kings and rulers and priests and prophets, and with our ancestors, have sinned in the Lord's sight and disobeyed him. We have neither heeded the voice of the Lord, our God, nor followed the precepts which the Lord set before us. (Bar 1:15-22)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100325.cfm
Being “flushed with shame” should provoke a time of repentance. But that rarely happens these days. Our treatment of immigrants and of the poor and marginalized is accepted as a necessary part of making us great again. The prophets have no problem calling us liars and murderers.
